Finding Jesus in the Bible…So We Can Follow Him in Life
Bible Reading Plans
- Plan One: New Testament Only
- Plan Two: New Testament + Psalms
- Plan Three: New Testament + History
- Plan Four: The Entire Bible – Year 1 of 3, Year 2 of 3, Year 3 of 3
Don’t know which plan? Go to A Christ-Centered Bible Reading Plan: Quick Start.
Extras
Verse of the Day, Audio Capsule, and Video Minute
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(Today’s Reading)
The Implications of the Second Coming as Accomplished Fact
(Book Installment 8)
The Scope of the Second Coming
Chapter 1 – References to the Second Coming
References to the Second Coming in Isaiah (continued)
In the next verse, we see Isaiah using the term “the day of the Lord” – one of the most common references to the Second Coming.
Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Isaiah 13:7 Therefore all hands will fall limp,
And every man’s heart will melt.
Isaiah 13:8 They will be terrified,
Pains and anguish will take hold of them;
They will writhe like a woman in labor,
They will look at one another in astonishment,
Their faces aflame.
Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
Cruel, with fury and burning anger,
To make the land a desolation;
And He will exterminate its sinners from it.
The literal expression “day of the Lord” appears 17 times in the Old Testament and 7 times in the New Testament. It appears many more times in shortened form…as “the day” or “that day” or something similar. There are also variations of the phrase, such as “the day of Christ Jesus” in Philippians 1: 6, shortened to “the day of Christ” in Philippians 1:10; 2:16.
I should also point out that a great many of these references to the Second Coming are not exclusive to the Second Coming. That is, they are often referring to days of reckoning in the short term, as well as the Second Coming in the long term. Thus all these shorter-term days of the Lord – whether for Israel or one of the surrounding nations – were foreshadowing the great day of the Lord for all nations that would be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Any and all of these variations on “day of the Lord” imply a day of judgment (reckoning) for sin – whether it be of a man, a family, or a nation. It is as if we have our days…but the Lord ultimately has His day. This is why references to a “coming of the day” are warnings to repent. People often get tired of waiting for God to do something about evil, but we should use any perceived delay as God giving us and others more time to repent.
The reward for heeding the Lord’s calls for repentance is deliverance (salvation, rescue) from the judgment that is sure to come. Thus “the day of judgment” is also “the day of salvation” – judgment for the unrighteous, salvation for the righteous. Hence the following verse from Isaiah.
Isaiah 49:8 Thus says the LORD,
“In a favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages;
When the prophets and the apostles alternate between judgment and salvation in this way, they are not talking about two different days of the Lord. Rather, the same day is for both salvation and judgment. The Flood was salvation for Noah’s family, but destruction for the rest of the world. The parting of the Red Sea was deliverance for the Israelites, but devastation for the Egyptians. One event, two outcomes. It was the same way at the Second Coming: glorious light for the faithful, but a thief in the night for the faithless. This “one event, two effects” reality – a dichotomy, which we’ll discuss at length in the next chapter – is why, in the run-up to the Second Coming, Peter could quote a proverb like this.
1 Peter 4:18 AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?
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